Chariton courier. (Keytesville, Chariton County, Mo.) 1878-current, 1887-11-03
Shall the Pulpit be Gagged.
Nashville Advocate.

| pulpit is set for the defense or The
truth. The preacher must he with
out Hesitation on the right side of al
moral and religious issues, and moi
only on that side, but must dcfeEd
the right as an aggressive force
against sin in every form. The pull
pit IN this land of religious liberty is
the principle force and safeguard
to the morals of the people: and
while one minister in fifty may trans
cend the bounds of ministerial pro-
prIety in rebuking sin, the forty
nine, through fear of public opinion
will fall below the line of ministerial
duty and responsibility. The legis-
lators make laws, and the courts try
to administer laws, but the pulpit
teaches law and obligation of every
man to God, and his duty to his fell
low-men. The pulpit is the break
water against all crime, and must
not be broken at any point. The
pulpit must and ought to be re-en-
forced by public sentim ent. There
is general sentiment that preachers
ought to keep out af the domain of
politics. Preachers, as pastors of
both political parties, should not
take part in "party spirits" but
there can be no argument against
preachers discussing and derouncing
the corruptions in church and state.
Is it possible that politics in this
land is so degraded and UNANIMOUSLY
corrupt that a man of God cannot
touch it without being defiIed by It's
filth? If this be true, then every
pulpit is in duty bound to. denounce
it, and urge the christian public not
to vote for bad men.
But why has the pulpit been put
under the ban In politics? Has it
not been done by designing polIti-
clans, that they might carry on their
corruption without being exposed !?
Can a government bless people
when the makers of the laws are
themselves the violators of the laws!
The pulpit is largely responsible for
the political corruption of the nation.
The country needs men to make laws
who fear God and keep his command
ments themselves.
This country needs morality in
Legislation more than party politics.
No man in this country can ignore
bis political responsibilities, whether
he be preacher or layman. When
the wicked rule, the nation mourns.
If the fifty thousand pulpits on this
continent would raise their voices
against partisan politicians and their
ble for spoils, in less than four
years the political atmosphere would
clear up, the exposure of the tricks
and frauds of the politicians would
soon drive them from the field, and
the more honest would rule the ma
ton,
There is another field where sin
does its most deadly work, from
which mighty efforts have been made
all down The ages to gag and exclude
the pulpit. The outward manifes-
tations of this sin and death to the
soul and a common morality are the
theatre and the ballroom. In all
their plans they mean one special
thing, and that is to more or less
weaken the moral restraints between
the sexes. The waltz and german
effectually accomplish this result.
The dance means the meeting of the
sexes on more familiar ground than
the ordinary decency and propriety
of social life allow. The very
strength of the ballroom is lust.
The og,tanus of the theatre, in fact
its very life, is predicted of its seem
ingly polished and cultured vulgar
ity, so acted and mixed that the
common vulgar herd may pay for
such performances without open
censure. Eliminate from the ball
room and the theatre the presence
of the sexes and the unwarrantable
liberty allowed between them in such
places, and they wtul,l soon be
abandoned. No one would ever go
to ballroom or theatre to geek pur-
| ity of heart or improve their purity
of life. Whatever may be said OF
dancing-masters and actors, they are
certainly not teachers of chastity.
Would the chastity, decency, and
propriety Of society be injured If
the public were to entirely abandon
the ballroom and the theatre? Are
the youth Of our country in any
sense made wiser or better through
their teachings? My long observa-
ton is that / have never known q
single woman wrecked. who belong
ed to respectable family, who did
not go through the theatre and ball
room to ruin.
The secular press takes che liberty
to say what they please, and often
think they are called upon, in their
self constituted authority, to correct
the errors and mistakes of the pull
| pit, and to put on mourning when
any preacher dares to reprove sin in
high places. In this land of politi
cal and religious freedom what
claims have God and humanity or